THE TRADING POST
"Professing themselves to be wise, men became fools." (Romans
1:22)
For man said, "Let us make god in our own images that we might
have dominion over him." Thus he traded the glory of the
incorruptible God for images made like corruptible man. And man
formed gods out of the dust of his head, and in his own likeness
created he them both males and females.
The first they called gramps for he was old,
senile, deaf
and blind; and because he was lonely he tried very hard to please
everyone, and was ever so grateful for the least of their
attention--and that's just what he got--while they gobbled his
goodies, robbed his pockets and sought mostly to please
themselves. Gramps applauded with only one hand.
Now others made god like a yardstick by which they
measured
themselves with themselves, and they looked down on other men--
but never! No never looked up! And they said, "Truth is what we
say it is. Please spare us the confusion of facts." They plant
their feet firmly on air while gravity goes out for a walk.
Then the call went out across the land to
worship
Hypothesis; and great multitudes gathered at Mount Ph.D., for of
a truth it was piled high and deep. There every man scribed his
own god supposing that his was supreme--but anarchy reigned, and
great was the thud of Ph.D. for everyone worshipped himself.
In no way are the gods that man creates able to
deliver
him--but THE GOD who created all things can! The Bible says,
"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be delivered."
And then there was . . .
METAPHYSICS
Why and Wherefore set out one day
To hunt for a wild negation.
They agreed to meet at a cool retreat
On the Point of Interrogation.
But the night was dark and they missed their mark,
And, driven well nigh to distraction,
They lost their ways in a murky maze
Of utter abstruse abstraction.
They took a boat and were soon afloat
On the Sea of Speculation,
But the sea grew rough, and their boat, though tough,
Was split into an equation.
As they floundered about in the waves of doubt
Rose a fearful hypothesis,
Who gibbered with glee as they sank in the sea,
And the last they saw was this:
On a rock bound reef of unbelief
There sat the wild negation;
When they sank once more and were washed ashore
At the Point of Interrogation.
--Oliver Hereford,
1898
And some called god BOO! For they said, "He who is
good will
not harm us. Come, let us be slaves to our fears!"--never knowing
what might come, they worship the cruel unknown. And God says,
"But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and
murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all
liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and
brimstone, which is the second death."
Of course, there is always that colorful but
mindless
creature who swallows and regurgitates everything.
My name, it is Poly, I'm an eclectic bird.
For you I will parrot from religions I've heard.
I'll pick some from this one, and from that one i'll choose,
Whichever one suits me, that's the one I will use.
To begin--there is Good, an impersonal force,
A principle, something about which men discourse.
Now second--there's Evil, some add that to the list
Still others would argue that it does not exist.
But then thirdly say those, you'll be happy to find,
That the whole mess is only a question of Mind!
Retribution is fourth if your ways you don't mend--
(Expletive deleted) may describe your foul end.
Yet if all of this squawking to you seems obscure,
If what you are seeking is the simple and pure,
Then, trust dear old Poly, your eclectic friend,
Just unfurl your mainsail and be borne on the wind.
Well, if all of this
seems like a lot of babble to you,
perhaps you would like some really good news. The Apostle Paul
in his first letter to the Corinthians said, "I delivered to you
as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for
our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and
that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve." Jesus is
alive today as proof that His death for sin is effective. Why
not now admit to God the condition of your heart and accept by
faith God's offer of eternal life provided in the finished work
of Jesus Christ His Son who was delivered for our offenses and
raised again for our justification.